Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Louisiana surrogate bill vetoed

Gov. Bobby Jindal sided with conservative groups Friday and vetoed a bill that would have created a new legal and regulatory framework for surrogacy births in Louisiana. ...

In his veto letter, the Republican governor said questions about surrogacy weren't studied enough, and he noted the "serious concerns" raised by the conservative Louisiana Family Forum, the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops and other social conservative groups.

"Creating a state sanctioned regulatory structure for contracts pertaining to the birth of children has a profound impact on the traditional beginnings of the family and is an important topic worthy of heightened scrutiny and consensus," wrote Jindal.

"Given the range of opposition, I am not satisfied that the questions and concerns ... have been sufficiently studied and thoroughly debated by the legislature at this time," he said. ...

The bill would have placed limits on surrogacy that don't currently exist, including spelling out that a surrogate only could be allowed for a married couple, consisting of a man and a woman, who can't otherwise have a biological child.

It also would have described who could be a surrogate and banned any payments for carrying the child, except for medical and legal expenses related to the pregnancy.

I don't really get the reasoning here. Lesbians can still get test-tube babies. Teenagers can still get pregnant. Welfare queens still get paid for each additional baby they have. Non-custodial dads still get locked out of their kids' lives.

A veto by Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal would have him follow in the footsteps of Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty in 2008, and New Jersey governor Chris Christie in 2012. Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker, in a piece entitled “Surrogacy Exposed” says that a Jindal veto would be “an act of principled courage.” ...

The bottom line is that this high-tech form of human trafficking treats women and unborn children as commodities. Treating Louisiana women as “ovens” is simply not a good recipe for a state that respects the dignity of women, children and families.

Not a good recipe? And our family court system is a good recipe? If they want to respect the dignity of families, then then should stop having family courts micro-manage them.